Slamadamonth, SLAM #61: Stewart Hare

You’re not going to see Stewart Hare in the NBA next year. His name wasn’t mentioned until the 18th paragraph of the AP game story about 13th-seeded UNC Wilmington’s upset of fourth seed USC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This play, in fact, is reduced to a phrase—“an emphatic dunk”—in said paragraph. It didn’t even make “One Shining Moment,” CBS’s sappy post-championship game video montage. By the time next year’s Tourney rolls around, Stew will be putting his accounting and finance degree to good use.

You will see Sam Clancy in the NBA next year. He’s got the body, the game, the pedigree (son of former NFL defensive end Sam Clancy, Sr.). At 6-7, he may be a bit of a tweener (although he did finish his career as USC’s all-time leading shot blocker), but his athleticism and sheer bulk should get him through. Clancy was the leading scorer at the Chicago pre-Draft camp last year. By the time next year’s Tournament rolls around, Clancy will be earning NBA dollars and seeing what the rookie wall is all about.

One soon-to-be NBA baller, one soon-to-be regular guy. On March 14, it was Hare on Clancy, driving past him, rising up. Dunking on not only Clancy, but on the entire USC front line, locking up the game for his Seahawks. “The lane parted like the Red Sea,” Hare told ESPN afterwards. “I figured I’d get stopped sooner or later, but I just keep going…I just went for it.”

“One Shining Moment,” indeed—no matter what the people over at CBS thought.